The Cave and the Cathedral: How a Real-Life Indiana Jones and a Renegade Scholar Decoded the Ancient Art of Man

Usually I don't bother to review books I do not like, but I feel so strongly about the subject of Aczel's book--the prehistoric painted caves of Europe--that I feel I have to warn unwary readers about this book. It seems to be directed toward a general audience yet dresses itself up as a scholarly work. Its dogmatism is illogical and offensive.In between narratives about his personal visits to caves (two of which I myself have visited, Niaux and Pech Merle) and to other places such as the northernmost native village of Alaska, Aczel tries to survey and pick apart earlier actual experts on the caves, of which he demonstrably is not, as well as to promote the outdated, neoFreudian, structuralist theories of André Leroi-Gourhan, theories which are based on a pseudoscientific reasoning that posits that each "sign [in the caves] has one of two meanings: male or female," as do the incredible, numinous depictions of animals and a few humans and human-animal figures. When you realize that for Leroi-Gourhan bisons are female and horses are male, with similar divisions for the other animals, you begin to understand how preposterous his ideas are.Meanwhile, Aczel discredits the theory of today's foremost expert on the subject, Jean Clottes (with David Lewis-Williams), that the art represents shamanism. Like Leroi-Gourhan, Clottes and Lewis-Williams feel compelled to bolster their theory with science (in The Shamans of Prehistory: Trance and Magic in the Painted Caves), a fact Aczel conveniently ignores, just as he shows an egregious ignorance about shamanism (did he even read Mircea Eliade's great work, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, on the subject? There is no indication he did). Calling their theory "ludicrous," Aczel claims Clottes and Lewis-Williams maintain "the purpose of all Paleolithic cave art was shamanistic," yet they clearly say, "it would be naive to hope for one complete explanation of parietal art" (The Shamans of Prehistory). Sadly, Aczel is just that naive.Aczel would have been far better off providing a survey of the history of modern exploration and ideas about European prehistoric cave art, a description of his own experience, and an explanation of his own original thoughts on the topic. Apparently he has none. His book has almost nothing of the cathedral of his title and not enough of the cave.Having said this, I must say I agree that the Cro-Magnons depicted a dichotomist world of binary oppositions--archetypes in other words. I do not agree that these archetypes were all sexual, far from it. If you want a much better introduction to Cro-Magnon art, read Journey Through the Ice Age, by Paul G. Bahn and Jean Vertut.

Fascination with archeology and antiquities has been a hidden variable in my life since the fifth grade, 1960 (I skipped fourth). This is not a book aimed at professional ethnologists or paleontologists, but developed for the general public, and as such, succeeds admirably. Those reviewers jealous of Dr. Aczel's broad scope of interests and research should be kinder about his delving into their field of expertise as it will interest many to read this and help develop their own range of knowledge and exposure to differring ideas concerning cave art. The facts of its history are not presented linearly or in textbook style, but as more of an adventure or personal travelogue. Those wishing he had included a timeline should read the book carefully, take notes and construct their own timelines as an exercise.... one for the development of man and hominids and one for the cave and cave art discoveries (beginning about 1650 with a large gap to the next discovery). Those who wish for a map can also make their own on a PC with some effort (yes, it would have been nice for Dr. Aczel to have provided one, but he is no longer available for consultation regarding why he chose to not do that....as his wife was considerably involved with the research and travel involved for this volume, perhaps she might know.... I can actually ask her, if you'd like!). Happy reading and please use Google maps while doing so!!!

I found the book surprisingly compelling reading. It was a fine way to put the cave art into perspective and to see it as the anthropologists who have studied and proposed differing theories of the underlying meaning. Aczel makes a good argument for and against those theories and introduces the novice to other researchers that might prove interesting reads.

The author tells his story very well. It is easy to read and interesting and a great introduction to CAVE ART and RELIGIOUS THOUGHT.He held my interest and I was grateful for the photos included. I wish there had been more.I enjoyed this enough that I intend to read his other books.A worthy addition to your personal library or for a discussion group interested in religious and philosophical topics.Enjoy it!Goes well with Karen Armstrong's A CASE FOR GOD![ASIN:0307269183 The Case for God]]

This book provides a very interesting overview of European cave art, with some good illustrations. Much of the author's information is fascinating and enlightening. However, I found his almost evangelistic support for a rather specific and unprovable speculative theory of the meaning of the art rather spoiled the book. I was not at all convinced by his support for this idea and in the end, the book turned out somewhat disappointing as a result.

The author does his homework, he visits the sites, but he goes back and forth between objective and subjective reasoning about the paintings. Not a crime, but after a while it becomes pointless. Still the book has loads of information, and brings up interesting points. If this is a subject that is of interest to you, I'd recommend it, it isn't a bad place to start.

I love this book and read it twice it has so much information and the cave art is beautiful. I Highly recommend it.

Well written and documented. Fascinating subject. A book to keep as reference as well.I enjoy it and continue to refer to it.

I read this book from the library and then ordered it because it was such a good summary of paleolithic art with a history of the various theories to date--beautiful colour plates too.

The Cave and the CathedralAmir D. Aczel hat ein einfaches aber gelungenes Rezept für sein Buch: Er verbindet persönliche Reiseerlebnisse mit biografisch und historischen Ereignissen zu einer unterhaltsamen Reise durch die steinzeitliche Höhlenkunst Europas.Als tragendes Thema auf dieser Reise steht die Frage, was der prähistorische Mensch durch seine Malereien ausdrücken wollte.Uns Lesern werden einige der Menschen, die bei der Erforschung der Höhlenmalerei beteiligt waren und ihre Deutungsideen dieser Kunst vorgestellt.Als besonders positiv empfand ich, dass das Buch in einem verständlichem Englisch geschrieben ist und bis zur letzten Seite fesseln kann. Es macht Spaß, dieses Buch zu lesen.Als negativ empfand ich, dass Aczel am Ende des Buches einer Theorie den Vorzug gibt und sie, quasi als Höhepunkt des Buches, als die tragendste der Deutungstheorien darstellt.Das Buch sollte nicht als letzte Weisheit bei der Erklärung der Steinzeitkunst verstanden werden. In dem Buch "Images of the Ice Age" von Paul G. Bahn und Jean Vertut werden die von Aczel genannten Fakten auf 20 von 240 Seiten dargelegt. Das Thema bietet als weit mehr als hier im Buch abgehandelt, dennoch ermöglicht das Buche einen guten Zugang zum Thema Eiszeitkunst und ich habe meine Lesezeit nicht als verschwendet empfunden.

Ottimo e godibile. Non essendo disponibile in italiano, ho preso la versione originale. Ben scritto, non troppo tecnico o accademico. Riporta una descrizione delle principali grotte con pitture e/o incisioni, ahimè alcune non più visitabili di persona (per il bene dei manufatti). Attraverso Kindle, anche le parole che possono essere sconosciute vengono rese chiare e comprensibili. Come sempre quando si tratta di interpretazioni, i giudizi di ogni autore possono piacere o meno, ma trovo il testo una buona introduzione. Chi fosse interessato ad approfondire può trovare molti suggerimenti ed interpretazioni alternative.

The author spends too long d discrediting rival Theories to Leroi-gourhan's, rather than building support for it and especially his own theory, that takes the cosmic understanding of stone age peoples to New heights with little supporting evidence.